Terminal connection for elongated flexible interconnecting members



.Aug-13, 1940..` A. E; BRxcKMAN ET A1. 2,211,615 TERMINAL CONNECTION FOR ELONGATED FLEXIBLE INTERCONNECTING-MEMBERS. l

l lFiled May 22, 19:59

Patented Aug., i3, we@

narran gratas. ,earner assise FLEXIBLE INTERCQNNECTENG MEMBERS filari IE. Brickman, lltostravor Township, Westmarciana County,'?a. and George A. Gleason, Worcester, Mass., assignors to 'Ehe American Steei and Wire Company of4 New Jersey, a.A corporation of New Jersey Application May 22, 1939,'Seral No. 275,074-

8 malins.

This invention relates to elongated flexible interconnecting members, such as brake cables, harness or dobby cords for looms, and the like, and particularly to an improved terminal connection therefor. Y

Various types of terminal connections for elongated iiexible interconnecting members, such as brake cables and dobby cords, have beenfsuggested and used, but most of these have been unsatisfactory, in that, they would become de- 1 tached from the end of the cable or cord; or the terminal would wear and break, thereby making the cable or cord useless; oftentimes, too,'the terminal connection was too large and bulky, thereby rendering it unsatisfactory for the particular purpose for which the cable or cord was intended.

llt has been proposed heretofore to provide a die-cast terminal on the end. of such flexible interconnecting members, but difilculty has been lexperienced in the -use of such a terminal for the reason that the metal used in die-casting these sert as shown in Figure 5;

terminals is inherently soit lrelative tc other metals and the die-cast terminal would soon wear f through orfracture after a short time in service, thereby rendering the flexible member to which it 'was attached unfit for further service.

The present invention relates particularly to a ,"rneans for remedying this undue wearing of die- 'cast terminaleonnections so as-to overcome the above mentioned disadvantage.. v

Accordingly, itis one ofthe objects ofthe present inventionto provide an improved die-cast terminal connection for flexible interconnecting membersV which will materially increase the life thereof. f

' It is another object of the invention to provide an improved die-cast terminal connection for exible interconnecting members having' a con- In the accompanying drawing there is shown,

necting portion associated therewith which isl simple andl inexpensive in its construction and,

yet, one which is strong and rugged:

It is a further object Aof the present invention to provide an improved die-cast terminal connection for flexible'interconnecting members having the connecting-portion thereofV formed of a wearreslsting reenforcing-metallic material integrally connected thereto, thereby not subjecting the v metal of the die-cast terminal to any wear whatsoever. Yarious 'other objects and advantages o'f our invention will be more apparent in the course of the following specification and will' be particularly pointed' out, in the appended claims.-

(ai. erases) showing the improved terminal connection of our invention incorporated therewith;

' Figure 2 is a section taken on the line lI--II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan of a harness or dobby cord incorporating the use ofthe improved terminal connection of our invention;

Figure 4 is a section taken onthe line IV-IV of Figure 3; I

Figure 5 is a. side elevation of areenforcing insert which may be used vin the practicev of the present invention Figure 6 is a longitudinal section similar to Figure 4 showing the modied form of reenforcing member as shown infFigure 5 incorporated with the die-cast terminal connection;

Figure 'l is an end view of the reenforcing in- A Figure 8 is a viewsimilar to Figure showing a slight modification; and,

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section' similar to Figure 4 showing a modied construction of a die,-

' cast terminal connection of the present-inven' Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in Figure 1 the improved terminal connection of our invention incorporated with a brake cable. -iuch a cable consists of a multistrand flexible wire. cable 2 having a suitable terminal connection 3 on one endthereof which has an outer threaded portion 4. n the opposite end of the exible cablefZ, there is arranged a slightly different type of terminal connection having an eye connecting portion 8 .arranged therein adjacent the outer end thereof for receiving a pin or other suitable connecting means. Both of the 'end terminals 4 and 5 are die-cast on' v. their respective ends of the cable 2 enveloping the l ends of the strands thereof and Athereby being securely attached thereto.

-',Acc`or ding to the present invention, there is arranged in the eye connecting portion 8 of the diecast terminal connection 5, a wear-resisting metallic reenforcing or insert member 1. -This metallic reenforclngor insert member is positioned in the die at the time of the die-casting of the terminal connection-and is securely embedded in l the metal due to the die-casting of the metal therearound. The type of metallic insert shown,v

and preferablefor use, is substantially ,y -shaped, having its ends or leg portions 1a extending in` wardly toward the center of the cable and being securely embedded in and enveloped by the diecast metal. It will be understood that it is the purpose of this metallic insert member I to provide a reenforcing means for the terminal and wear-resisting side walls for the eye portion 6 of thn die-cast terminal connection.

In Figure 3, the improved die-cast terminal connection of our invention is shown incorporated with a dobby or harness co'rd as used in looms. Such adobby or harness cord comprises an elongated flexible member of a predetermined length consisting of a multi-strand wire cable 3 preferably sheathed in iiexible moisture-proof material 9, such as rubber and the like. In a harness or-dobby cord, the terminal connections on the ends thereof are usually of the same construction, with o ne terminal connection adapted to be attached to the hooked end of a horizontally actuated jack or lever of the loom and disposed over a sheave with the opposite end thereof attached to a hook arranged in the top of a vertically disposed harness frame of the loom. In the present instance, a portion of the sheathing 9 of the cable is removed from each end thereof and similar die-cast terminal connections I0 are disposed on each end thereof with each having an eye connecting portion I2 arranged on the outer end thereof for connecting the dobby or harness cord to the hooked end of the jack and the hook carried by the frame, as previously described.

Each of the die-cast terminals I0 envelopes the ends of the strands of the wire cable and extends over the outer end of the sheathing thereof s o as `to overlap and envelope the same. In the present invention, there is disposed in the eye connecting portion I2 of each of the terminal connections I0, a suitable substantially U-shaped wear-resisting metallic reenforcing or insert member I3 similar to the insert member 1. The insert connecting member I3 is likewise securely embedded in the metal of the die-cast end and is arranged therein for the purpose of providing a reenforcing means for the terminal and wear-resisting side walls for the eye portions I2; that is, side walls against which the hooked ends of the jack and the harness frame are adapted to function. In this construction, it will be noted that ends of the wire strands extend to a point Iup between the legs of the U-shaped insert or reenforcing member almost to the end of the die-cast portion of the terminal.

In Figures 5, 6 and 7 there is shown a type of insert or reenforcing member which is preferable for use in the present invention. Such an insert shaped wall I5 formed in the outer side thereof so as to provide a betterbearing surface for the hook it-is adapted to receive. The opposed walls of legs I6 have inwardly extending teeth Il arranged thereon which4 are struck up from 'the metal. These teeth are adapted to temporarily hold the insert or reenforcing member in position on the end of strands of the wire until the ends thereof, together with theinsert, are positioned in the die and the terminal member die-cast therearound. Also, the die-cast metal will flow into the opening in the legs from which the teeth I'I are formed, thereby tending to provide a better bond between the legs and the die-cast metal. The legs I6 may be arcuate-shaped in cross section, if desired, as shown in Figure 8, so as to t around the ends of the wire strands, thereby tending to more effectively retain the ends of the same therebetween.

In Figure 9 there is shown a modified form of a die-cast terminal connection of the present invention which may be incorporated with a brake cable, harness cord, or any other suitable interconnecting exible member. In this construction, the terminal connections consist of a die-cast body portion I8 which, as before, envelopes the ends of the strands of the wire cable I9 and overlaps and envelopes the end of the moisture-proof sheathing 2U.. However, in this construction, the connecting eye portion of the terminal connection extends outwardly from the end of the die-cast body portion I8 and consists of a metallic member 2l similar to insert member 'I and I3 bent into substantially a U-shape so as to forman eye portion ZZ in the end thereof which is adapted to receive a hook, pin, or other suitable connecting means and having its legs 23 securely embedded in and enveloped by the metal of the de-cast body portion I8 of the terminal around the ends of the wire'strands so as to be securely attached thereto.

As a result of this invention; it will be seen that there is provided a die-cast terminal connection for elongated exible members so as to obtain all of the advantages that a die-cast terminal connection possesses and, in addition, means for overcoming one big disadvantage thereof, namely, its inherent characteristic of being non-resistant to wear. That is, the part thereof which is subjected most to'wear is provided with a wearresisting or reenforcing metallic member which materially increases the life of such die-cast terminal connections, thereby eliminating the frequent replacing of the flexible interconnecting members.

While we have shown and described one embodiment of our invention and several modifications thereof, it will be understood that these embodiments are merely for the purpose of illustration and description and that various other forms may be vdevised within the scope of our invention, as dei-ined in the appended claims.

We claim:

l. lIlie combination with an elongated multistrand flexible-member, of a die-cast terminal member disposed on at least one end of said flexible member enveloping the ends of the strands thereof, and a reenforcing connecting eye member of wear-resisting material associated with said terminal member which is securely die-cast therein adjacent the end thereof so as to provide a connecting eye portion therefor.

2. The combination with an elongated multistrand flexible metallic member, of a die-cast terminal member disposed on at least one end of said exible member enveloping the ends of the strands thereof, said terminal member having a. connecting eye portion arranged therethrough adjacent the outer end thereof, and a wear-resisting reenforcing insert member securely arranged within said eye portion so as to provide wear-resisting side walls therefor.

3. The combination with an elongated multistrand iiexible member, of a die-cast terminal member disposed onat least one end of said flexible member enveloping the ends of the strands thereof, said terminal member having a connecting eye portion arranged therethrough adjacent the end thereof, a U-shaped wear-resisting reenforcing insert member arranged within the eye portion of said terminal member so as to provide Wear-resistingside walls therefor, said 'U-shaped insert member having its ends embedded'in said die-cast terminal member so as to be securely retained therein.

tions embedded in said die-cast terminal member andenvelope'd therebyso as to be securely attached thereto. v A

5. The combination with 'an elongated ilexible i memiber of a predetermined'length consisting of a multi-strand ileidblewire sheathed in a flexible moisture-proof material having a portion of said sheathing removed from atleast one end thereof, of a die-cast terminal member disposed on said,-

end developing both the end of the strands of said exible member and lthe end of said sheathing. said terminal member having a co eeting eye portion arranged .in the outer end hereof, and

a wear-'resisting metallic reenforcing insert member disposed within said eye portion and em'- bedded in said die-cast terminal member so as to provide wear-resisting side walls for said eye portion. U

6. 'I'he combination with an elongated iiexible member of a predetermined length consisting of a multi-strand-'fleniblewire sheathed in a flexible moisture-proof material having a portion of said lsheathing removed from atleast one end thereof, of adie-cast terminal member on said' end enveloping both the end of the strands of said flexible member and the end of said sheathlng, said terminal memberhaving a connectingv eye pornonarranged in the outer end thereof. and a 'Li-shaped wear-resisting reenforcing insert member disposed within the eye portion of saiddie-cast terminal member so 'as to provide wear-resisting side walls therefor, said insert member having its leg portions embedded in sai-d die-cast terminal member so as to be se- 'curely retained therein.

7.- The combination with an elongated flexible member of a predetermined' length consisting ofa multi-strand exible wire sheathed in a flexible `moisture-proof material having aportion of said sheathing-removed from at least` one end thereof, of a die-castV terminal member disposed Aon said end enveloping both the end of the strands of said flexible member ,andi the. end of said sheathing, anda connecting eye member of wear-resisting material arranged in the outer end of said die-cast terminal member and extending outwardly therefrom,v said eye member having its inner endembedded in said die-cast terminal member and enveloped thereb'yso as to be s'ecurely attached thereto.

8. The combination with an elongated multistrand exible member, of a die-cast terminal member disposed on at least one end of said flexible member enveloping the ends of the stramk thereof, a reenforcing U-shaped metallic connecting member arranged in the outer portion of said terminal'member, said"U-shaped connect- Ving member hav-ing its leg portions embeddedin the die-cast metaland having a plurality of teeth arranged on the opposed walls ofthe leg portions thereof which are adaptedto grip the ends of the strands of ma semble member at least while the terminal is die-cast there- 

